Books like Kissing God Goodbye by June Jordan

Explore how embracing vulnerability, courage, compassion, and connection can lead to authentic self‑acceptance and wholehearted living.

A book about self acceptance.

Patricia Smith’s verse chronicles Hurricane Katrina from tropical depression to devastation, offering the voices of politicians, victims, and the storm itself.

Natasha Trethewey’s Poetic Reflection on Family and Race in America

Gwendolyn Brooks’ "Selected Poems (P.S.)" gathers key verses from her earlier collections – "A Street in Bronzeville," "Annie Allen," and "The Bean Eaters" – alongside new selections, showcasing her acclaimed African‑American poetic voice.

A powerful collection of poems by the activist and scholar Sonia Sánchez, exploring the pain and beauty of African‑American womanhood and her quest for peace.

A poetic exploration of African‑American and Cherokee heritage, tracing generations from enslaved ancestors to the Great Migration and beyond.

Evie Shockley’s *The New Black* blends formal verse with thoughtful reflections on African American identity, history, and the evolving experience of racism in contemporary America.

A bold exploration of pregnancy, childbirth, and artistic expression through verse, prose, and dialogue.

Rita Dove’s *American Smooth* is a collection that blends rhythmic lyricism with vivid cultural imagery, celebrating American heritage through poetic forms.

June Jordan’s collection of poems confronts the oppression of women and African Americans, touching on street violence, love, and the ongoing search for identity.

A comprehensive anthology of June Jordan’s poetry, spanning over six hundred pages of lyricism, elegiac verse, and vibrant vernacular, including unpublished “last poems” that showcase her powerful engagement with identity, activism, and human connection.

A spiritual guide offering quotations, step‑by‑step practices, and teaching moments that help heal wounded hearts through forgiveness, love, and peace.

Patricia Jabbeh Wesley’s *Becoming Ebony* blends contemporary and traditional African poetry, weaving lyrical storytelling, oral history, and personal experience to explore themes of strength, tragedy, diaspora, and survival.

Rita Dove’s *Grace Notes* weaves 48 poems that explore childhood memory, the subtle power of words, and the delicate embellishments of everyday life, positioning the collection as a subtle yet moving voice in contemporary American poetry.

Quilting the Black‑Eyed Pea is a powerful collection of Nikki Giovanni’s poems that blend incisive politics with deeply personal reflection, celebrating women, family, and African‑American heritage.

Anjail Rashida Ahmad's powerful exploration of African American women's heritage and pride in language and tradition.

"Poet, activist, and essayist June Jordan is a prolific, significant American writer who pushed the limits of political vision and moral witness, traversing a career of over forty years. With poetry, prose, letters, and more, this reader is a key resource for understanding the scope, complexity, and novelty of this pioneering Black American writer. From "Poem about Police Violence": Tell me something what you think would happen if everytime they kill a black boy then we kill a cop everytime they kill a black man then we kill a cop you think the accident rate would lower subsequently?. I lose consciousness of ugly bestial rabid and repetitive affront as when they tell me 18 cops in order to subdue one man 18 strangled him to death in the ensuing scuffle (don't you idolize the diction of the powerful: subdue and scuffle my oh my) and that the murder that the killing of Arthur Miller on a Brooklyn street was just a "justifiable accident" again (again) People been having accidents all over the globe so long like that I reckon that the only suitable insurance is a gun"--